In a certain reign, whose was it, among the many consorts and ladies who served the emperor, there was one, not of the highest rank, who enjoyed his particular favor.
Those who had come to court sure that they would be first despised and resented her as an offense. Ladies of the same rank, and those of lower rank still, were even less at peace. Every morning and evening her service stirred others' hearts, and perhaps because resentment kept piling up against her, she became very sickly and, seeming lonely and forlorn, often withdrew to her family home. The emperor only loved her the more, paid no heed to criticism, and treated her in a way that seemed bound to become the talk of the world.
Perhaps their bond from a former life was deep, for she even bore him a son, a jewel of a prince more beautiful than anyone in the world. The first prince, born to the Kokiden Consort, daughter of the Minister of the Right, was honored by all as the undoubted heir, but he could not compare with the radiant beauty of this prince.
The harassment of the lady grew fierce: filth was scattered in the corridors she passed through, and doors were shut to trap her. At last she fell gravely ill, and in the summer of the prince's third year, she died on the very night she left the palace.
The emperor sank in grief. The prince grew up so beautiful and so clever, but a prince without powerful backers who aimed at the throne would only sow strife. Taking into account the words of a Korean physiognomist, the emperor made the prince a commoner and gave him the surname Minamoto (Genji). People called his beauty "the Shining Prince."